singapore poolsFOR all the euphoria surrounding Singapore's return to Malaysian football, the jury is still out on whether it is a good move for the Republic's future in the sport. A poll on The Straits Times online portal on Wednesday showed that over 70 per cent of readers were in favour of having a new Singapore Lions team playing in the Malaysian Super League. But the burning question on most observers' lips is where this leaves the S-League, which is already struggling to draw the crowds. There is concern that having a team competing in Malaysia would further dilute support for the S-League.
Mr Bernard Lee, a local football fan, said: 'In a business sense, it's bad for the S-League because people are already not attending games and now, their attention will turn to the Malaysian league.' Woodlands Wellington head coach R. Balasubramaniam believes that Singapore football is taking a step backwards by returning to the competition it left 16 years ago, arguing that players had benefited from playing in the local league. 'Everyone is only thinking of going back to the Malaysia Cup glory days, but that is backtracking,' he said. 'After the S-League started (in 1996), we saw some success for our national team; we won the AFF Cup (in 1998, 2004 and 2007) because we were moving forward.'
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